PS 



^A 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Shelf jir^^-Zf/ 7 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



\ 




/ 



R- 



^ 






ALMETTA. 



ALMETTA. 



BY D. T. PRAIGG. 



indianapolis, ind.: 
Baker-Randolph Co., Prii^iers. 




777/"-'X- 



1{^ 



V 



Copyright 1894 
BY THE AUTHOR. 



AUMETTA- 



7 TPON a hill in Western city stood 

A home palatial, where the daily board 
Beneath Abundance groaned, and where no good 

Or needed thing was wanting ; it was stored 
With Plenty, e'en to repletion, nor could 

The heart find in it aught that was ignored, 
Which was to Comfort or to Pleasure due, 
Or e'en suggest the thought of something new. 

It stood within a grove of forest trees, 

Whose boughs were by the rays of morning sun 
First kissed ; whose shades were like the cooling breeze, 

Which from the sea by Nature's art is won ; 
Flowers of rarest beauty, the eye to please, 

In richest fragrance bloomed, nor sought to shun 
Admiring gaze, and fountains on the lawn 
Unceasing played from dawn to coming dawn. 

7 



ALMETTA. 

It was the home of Peace and Joy, a place 

To which grim Want a stranger was ; where Pain 

And Disappointment ne'er had shown their face, 

Nor gentle Hope had e'er been known to wane ; 

A home in which Contentment had kept pace 

And hand-in-hand with Duty gone ; where bane 

Of life, Deceit, Distrust, Dissension, Guile, 

Had entered not its precincts to defile. 



The waters of a stream the base did lave 
Of hill on which the Home was resting ; 

And to the scene the voice of rippling wave 
Did lend enchantment, as it attesting 

To absence from its bounds of thought that gave 
One pang to the joys that there were nesting ; 

As if its inspiration nature 'd caught 

And come to it with richest blessings fraught. 

8 



ALMETTA. 

About it stood the homes of modest mein 

Where sought the artisans their nightly rest ; 

The homes where Toil's deep furrows could be seen 

And where the joys were lew whose coming bless'd 

The care-worn heart ; where standing gaunt and lean 
The wolf did haunt the door, unwelcome guest. 

There the mansion stood, reared its head on high, 

Like feudal lord among his peasantry. 



Upon the lawn, engaged in childish play, 

Two children were, a boy just merging on 

His teens, a girl three years his junior ; they 

Did run and leap and laugh the paths along. 

Did take each other's "tag" and far away 

Did skip and dodge behind the trees upon 

The velvet sward ; to them life was a lot 

Which nothing knew of plot and counterplot. 

9 



ALMETTA. 

The boy an heir was to the large estate 

Of which the mansion was a part ; he knew 

Naught of Discomfort or the ills that wait 

On Poverty ; 'mid rare delights he grew 

From year to year, nor sought nor shunned the fate 
Which on his path did choicest blessings strew. 

To him each day was like recurring joy 

Whose pleasures would alone the time employ. 



The girl was humbler born ; her childish feet 

Were doomed to walk in paths of pain ; the seal 

Of Poverty was on her home ; to meet 

The wants of life her parents did appeal 

To work each day ; by management discreet 
They did provide the daily frugal meal ; 

And of life's comforts having little here 

They fixed their gaze upon the future sphere. 

10 



ALJlfETTA. 

She was an only daughter and her weal 

Was prized above their lives ; she was taught 

In all things to be candid and to deal 

Not in Deception which with pain is fraught ; 

Nor to disguise her nature and conceal 

Those generous emotions which, when caught 

At their full tide, so many blessings bring 

And prove of human joy the parent spring. 



Hard by the mansion stood the humble place 

She called a home; and comlortless did seem, 

In contrast with the massy pile whose grace 

And elegance surpassed her brightest dream ; 

But childhood is content to run its race 

Nor look beyond the day for brighter beam 

Than with the present comes ; she envied not 

What might appear her playmate's better lot. 

11 



ALMETTA. 

Upon the lawn they played, guileless and free, 
Children ot nature, free from want or care ; 

Types of that joy which in eternity 

Exists for those who for it here prepare. 

'' Suffer the little ones to come to me", 

The Master said; " theirs is the kingrdom rare 

To inherit "; for in such lives we see 

A likeness of his matchless purity. 



Oh, childhood, childhood ! sweet are thy delights. 
Sweet are thy charms, dear thy guileless joys ; 

Whose days, made short by Pleasure, and whose nights- 
Are long because succeeding day annoys 

Thee not with Sorrow's burdens ; puts no blights 
Upon thy present moment, and alloys 

Not with thy ev'ry joy that sense of pain 

Which makes the old for childhood yearn again. 

12 



ALMETTA. 

Sweet is thy innocence and pure the bHss 

Which from it Bows thy Hfe to consecrate ; 

Thou hast not learned the best of life to miss 
Or turn 't to doubtful purpose ; to berate 

All good in others nor, what's worse than this, 
To ill requite a kindness, be ingrate 

And smite thy benefactor ; thou hast learned 

All good is to be loved, all bad be spurned. 



Bright is the smile which on thy face appears. 

Joyous the laugh which o'er thy pathway rings ; 

Blest are thine eyes which shed not bitter tears 
Of anguish from remorse, whose biting stings 

With horror fill ; thine are as yet the years 

Which full of gladness are, and from which springs 

No deadly poison, life to permeate, 

And fill thy soul, instead of love, with hate. 

1^ 



ALMETTA. 

Oh, childhood, childhood! thou 'rt the time 

When Hope and Joy and Peace the bosom fill ; 

When life responds in trust to ev'ry chime 

Of love and tenderness ; when there's no ill 

Foreboding to thy life, but a sublime. 

Unselfish nature makes thy heart to thrill 

With touching sweetness, which to faith is due, 

And which we love because 'tis always true. 



Thine in life is great and holy mission. 

Thine to scatter flowers on ev'ry side ; 

Thine to gain from Hope its best fruition, 
x^nd to a higher purpose be the guide ; 

Thine it is, though humble thy condition, 

To close the door to Hate and open wide 

The door to Love ; in thy sweet constancy 

We see the type of what we all should be. 

14 



ALMETTA. 

Thine is implicit faith, a confidence 

That cHngs in love to ev'ry outstretched hand ; 
A holy trust, upon whose innocence, 

There yet remains the pure and heav'nly brand 
Of God's eternal truth ; a sweet incense 

Exhaled to earth from altars in that land 
Of peace and rest, where Virtue reigns and sings 
Eternal anthems to the King of Kings. 



Thou dost believe the things that would belief 
Stagger in thy elders ; thy heart receives 

All things as truth, and knows not that the grief, 
Most fatal to thy peace, that which deceives 

Most cruelly, may often lie beneath 

The smile, which we are prone to think relieves ; 

And from the heart takes ev'ry weight of care 

To make of earth an Eden bright and lair. 

15 



A L ME T TA . 

Oh ! that the day would never come when child 

Would see aught save the glories of the morn ; 

When it would never know that life 's beguiled 
By joys which in the end become forlorn ; 

And naked stand, like specters grim and wild, 

Around the hopes which in our youth are born. 

The child 's well on the road to human flaws 

When first he loses faith in Santa Claus. 



They played upon the lawn ; their childish hearts 
Of buoyant life were full, from care were free ; 

For neither knew as yet the cunning arts 

Which by Deception 's practiced ; they could see 

Naught save what on the surface was ; the smarts 
Which Time lays on his children, were to be 

Hidden yet from them ; they were yet to know 

That life is not of joy a constant flow. 

16 



ALMETTA. 

The boy was by companions known as Mark, 
By others known as Marcus, and the girl 

Was called Almetta ; he was like the lark, 
Inclined to soar on high above the whirl 

Of things terrestrial ; his was a barque 

Whose sails to any gale he dared unfurl ; 

And e'en in play delighted in its scars 

And proved himself well named a son of Mars. 



And, yet, he was not bad, though of frolic 

Full to overflowing ; an only son 
And reared in town, the feature bucolic 

Was not pronounced ; to work he 'd never run 
But rather from it in play to rollic, 

Though he was fond of sport with dog and gun ; 
And could as deadly bead on all game draw 
As if descended direct from Esau. 



ALMETTA. 

He misnamed was not, as some persons are, 
Who get cognomen ere their human traits 

Are well developed ; and which show how far 

Their parents missed it when they closed the gates^ 

Which to other names should be left ajar ; 

That their children by paying but half rates, 

In after years, might slip through and remit 

Some of the tolls they pay for their misfit. 



I like to see a happy consonance 

Between one's name and dominating trait ; 
It comes to us like agent in advance 

Of life's great circus which, impatient wait 
We for; a pity 'tis to have romance 

Only in name when life 's a barren state. 
Mark's name was not, as some are, misnomer, 
For among the stars he proved a roamer. 

18 



ALMETTA. 

I hate to see a '' Lily " growing up 

With the complexion of a dark brunette ; 

And one who 's fairer drinking from the cup 
Of gall by being misnamed "Violet". 

I hate to see a big Newfoundland pup, 

Or horse or cow called by the name of " Pet 

I hate to see a woman full six feet 

Bearing the little name ot " Margarite ". 



I never thought the gentle name of " Pearl " 

Applied just right to woman coarse and strong, 

However well it fit the little girl, 

While yet her heart was full of playful song. 

I never thought the title of the " Earl " 

Sat well on him who always was in wrong, 

And never cared the right to know ; " Myra " 

Is misfit when full of fun her eyes are. 
2 19 



ALMETTA. 

I'd like to see a modern Susannah 

Who'd scorn the name of " Susie " ; a Mary Jane 
Who would not be a " Mamie "; a Hannah, 

Whose name to her was precious, who'd disdain 
to exchange for the name of " Anna "; 

I'd like to see a modern Sarah reio^n 
As Sarah, not as " Sallie"; Margaret 
Not as " Madge ", and Annie not as " Annette". 



These good old names are sadly out of date, 

When " Carrie " takes the place of Caroline ; 

When Catherine becomes a modern " Kate " 
Or " Kittie "; " Emma" supplants Emeline, 

Because, forsooth, the latter's thought sedate ; 
Elizabeth no longer is divine 

But is lost in " Lizzie ", and I fancy 

All modern girls are ashamed of '' Nancy ". 

21 1 



ALMETTA. 

♦ 

If all the Pauls, who never will be Pauls, 

Were working in the vineyard of the Lord ; 

And ev'ry Moses should respond to calls 

To lead the host from Egypt's fierce discord ; 

And all the Daniels sat in Judgment halls 

And judged themselves by God's eternal Word ; 

Were Noahs "comforts", Patricks "patricians ", 

We'd have on earth heaven's blest fruitions. 



If ev'ry one who's dubbed a Benedict 

Was " blessed "; Ebenezers " stones of help " were ; 
All John's the " gifts of God ", nor derelict 

In duty; Enochs " consecrated" here ; 
All Clements so '' mild tempered " they'd not pick 

A quarrel ; each Hilary " full of cheer". 
And every Clarence '' illustrious ", 
It would save the world from many a muss. 

21 



ALMETTA. 

But ev'ry Robert is not " bright in fame", 

Nor has ev'ry Phineas " mouth of brass "; 

Though many Peters are but "rocks " in name, 
Though they are often found at early mass 

James too often is " supplanter "; the same 
Is true of George, a " landholder "; alas ! 

Henry 's the " head of a house " and fact is 

Would have the landlord pay all the taxes. 



But I 'm not one to go back on the saints 

Because their names are misplaced here below ; 

No doubt, that when alive they felt restraints 
And had to name their children so and so ; 

Perhaps as we do now, and heard complaints 

When Ephraims did too "very fruitful" grow. 

But these complaints are not 'gainst fruitage now 

But 'gainst the barrenness of parent bow. 

22 



ALMETTA. 

But pardon this digression, let 's retrace 

Our steps to Mark and to Almetta who 

ypon the lawn were playing ; upon her face 

There was a ruddy glow of health which few, 

Even at her ao^e, could boast of; and orrace 

And ease her ev'ry movement marked ; she grew 

From day to day much like neglected liow'r 

Which blooms alone from its inherent pow'r. 



Her eyes were dark and in their tender gaze 

A wealth of joy and sweetness could be seen ; 

And when, in sudden mirth, the lids she 'd raise. 
As though astonished or surprised she 'd been, 

One could detect within her soul the rays 
Of childish beauty and of graceful mein 

At focus ; there her life did concentrate 

To be thrown out in richest hues ornate. 

23 



ALMETTA. 

Her hair in golden ringlets fell around 

A face and neck, as perfect in their form, 

As nature's choicest model; il all ground 

Were run throuo^h finest sieve 'till it was warm 

With life, and then, that dross should not abound, 
'Twere purified by nature's fiercest storm, 

It would suffice not still, for mother earth 

Ne'er cradled in her bosom fairer birth. 



In disposition she was gentle, mild, 

Open and generous, and like the sun, 

When it returns to morning undefiled 

By darkness of the night its race to run. 

Her presence lent a joy that constant smiled, 

And for her home a wealth of gladness won ; 

Made light the burden of her parents' care 

Which else their toil had grievous made to bear. 

24 



.4 L ME r TA . 

The children oft together had been thrown 
In the pubhc school, that equalizer 

Of all degrees, where stands each tub alone 
On its own bottom ; where social ties are 

Based not on wealth nor on affected tone, 
Nor on assumption of being wiser 

Than others are ; lor on the school playground 

Distinctions snobbish are but seldom found. 



'Twas in this school, the cradle in our land, 

Where's rocked the orenius born in low estate 

Into a hio;her being: ; where the hand 

Of robust training grasps the pow'r innate, 

And leads it on till it alone can stand 

Against the buffetings of time and fate, 

That Mark and Almetta learned each other 

To love ; she as sister, he as brother. 



ALMETTA. 

But from the public schools their paths diverged 
When Mark away from home to college went ; 

And from it in a few years he emerged, 
And studied a profession, with intent 

To practice in his native city ; urged 

On by friends, though it was his nat'ral bent. 

He forged ahead, found favor in each eye. 

And learned that friends will friends oft multiply. 



But he was not the bright and open child 

He was when first we knew him, for he'd been 

Led into paths of evil by the wild 

And reckless youths at college, and had seen 

The darker side of life, though not defiled 

As some have been by habits like ; I mean 

He did not smoke nor chew nor drink nor swear, 

But I'm afraid his virtues ended there. 

26 



A L nr E T r A . 

In outward life he was always correct 

And took high rank in his profession ; 

He attended church and was circumspect 
In discharge of duty; made concession 

In public to no wrong ; knew ev'ry sect, 

And dogmas could discuss from confession 

To final perseverance of the saints, 

And, yet, he was not free from moral taints. 



Though some excuse we'll find for him, perhaps, 

In his profession, which is noted for 
The many people it lays out and wraps 

In the gloomy shroud ; he was a doctor, 
And his profession one that often saps 

Foundations of the sympathies ; like war, 
Dissecting rooms oft turn men's hearts to stones 
And they come from the course well named," Sawbones " 



ALMETTA. 

A pity 'tis that the art of heahng 

Must needs be learned by chopping up the dead 
That the heart against its better feehng 

Must be steeled when to this profession 's wed 
The man ; lest it is the art of stealing 

The corpse by night away from narrow bed, 
Would ne'er be perfect if the men who did 
Were too refined to tear off coffin lid. 



I did not say that Mark had played the ghoul, 
Nor did I, mind you, even intimate 

That he had made ot himself such a fool, 

When he could buy a corpse at half the rate 

'Twould cost to steal it ; and, besides, a rule 
Has been observed in colleges of late 

Not " meds " but others to incite to steal ; 

And this, 'tis said, great progress does reveal. 

28 



ALMETTA. 

Perhaps it does ; I do not criticise 

Men and methods, but simply tell the tale 
As it was told to me ; I 'd not advise 

A friend of mine, when it would naueht avail, 
To indulge in fiction, nor yet surmise 

That this or that or 'tother does prevail. 
For my part, I confess that w^hen I 'm sick 
I 'd have the doctor come at double quick. 



1 he reason why I never criticise 

Is because all critics are dyspeptic ; 

For that, in fact, is what the term implies, 
And I would, by odds, be antiseptic ; 

Or hide the dose in sugar-coat's disguise 
Like the Homeopath or, like Eclectic, 

From all the schools the great cureall art take 

And depend at last on pills cathartic. 

29 



ALMETTA. 

But another reason that should impel 

To silence when a doctor is discussed, 

Lies in the fact that mortal to sick spell 
Is liable, no matter how robust 

His constitution ; and 'tis always well 

Not to inspire the man with deep disgust, 

Whose medicine you may be forced to take. 

When he, not you, the compounds all will make. 



In the meantime Almetta passed from grade 

To grade, and at length the course completed ; 

And though she longed the classics to invade 
And oret the lore, which to us escheated 

From ages past, her circumstances made 

The thing not to be hoped for ; deep seated 

Was her regfret, but now she souo^ht to find 

At home a higher culture for her mind. 

30 



ALMETTA. 

For her ambition still was to excel 

In all the things that useful can be made ; 
And to this end such things she did repel 

As would distract attention, which she paid 
To higher duties ; thus her time was well 

Divided between household duties laid 
Upon her, and the studies which to her 
Did lead the mind to fields of knowledge dear. 



A willing hand she lent to ev'ry task, 

And learned to sew, to knit, to sweep, to cook 
Anticipated, ere her mother 'd ask. 

The wish that this or that be done ; with look 
Of cheerfulness, that did the heart unmask, 

She to each call responded ; to her book, 
When duty was discharged, she would return 
And late at night the oil of study burn. 

31 



ALMETTA. 

This self-allotted study was the source 

Of pleasure and of profit, and ere long 

Increased the powers ot a mind whose force 

Had always been in quick perception strong ; 

And yielded pleasure in its daily course, 

That filled her life with that responsive song. 

Which comes from knowledge that, all duty done, 

The smiles of others on her life had won. 



Her home, made tid)- by her constant care. 
Presented a picture so clean and neat. 

That the very gods might assemble there 

And have no dust to shake from off^ their feet 

When they departed ; hers were talents rare 
In domicile, for over all a sweet 

And genial air was thrown, so majestic 

She might be called a queen yet domestic. 

82 



ALMETTA. 

Improvement of the mind kept steady pace 

With lapse of time, and Virtue, too, I ween, 

Went hand in hand with Duty in the race 

With Hope and Joy and Peace ; at seventeen 

She was a picture of ideal grace 

And beauty, and might aspire as queen 

Of hearts to reign, were not the love of hearts 

Made trade and traffic of in worldly marts. 



Her home, though humble, by her hand was made 
Fit dwelling place for Virtue and for Love ; 

A place, though poor her parents, where no shade 
Of Sorrow lingered ; but o'er which the dove 

Of gentle Peace did hover ; where no staid 
And haughty Ceremonial did shove 

Aside the simple joys with ruthless hand, 

And still the voice of Mirth with harsh command. 

33 



ALMETTA. 

In her the parents found that rare delight 

Which to the humble home by heav'n is sent, 

When after years of toil parental sight 

Beholds a womanhood on which were bent 

The hopes of earlier years ; to her bright 
And sympathetic nature there was lent 

A tender love, the humble home to grace, 

And make of it Content's abiding-place. 



She was to them what God has well ordained 

That children to their parents all should prove 

A stay and comfort, when their feet well trained, 
In paths of filial love and duty move ; 

Hers was a heart that love of all hearts gained, 
So gently moved all things in family groove ; 

And like the early Christians they did eat 

In joy and singleness of heart their meat. 

34 



ALMETTA. 

Sweet are the flowers that bloom in Virtue's path, 

Tender the songs that come from Virtue's heart ; 

Gentle are the zephyrs that sweetly wait 

The fragrant incense which her smiles impart ; 

Bright are her loving eyes, deep they engraft 
. Upon the soul that better, nobler part 

Of man and woman, whose divine-like lives 

Intensify the joys of husbands, wives. 



Pure is the joy that 's born of virt'ous worth. 
And truly great the modest woman, 

Who finds beside her own domestic hearth 

Delight enough for the want that 's human ; 

And in her nobler self would ne'er g-ive birth 

o 

To those poor follies, which ev'ry true man 
Believes the sense of the sex impeaches. 
When, skirts discarded, she dons the breeches. 

3 35 



ALMETTA. 

What woman e'er in Bloomer skirts arrayed 
And limbs exposed to a gaping crowd, 

Felt not rebuke for modesty dismayed, 

And realized her nature was not cowed ? 

Nor felt she 'd given no cause to upbraid 

Her better self? Oh, woman ! see the bowed 

Head of thy sister, and take a lesson 

From that modest worth all put a bless on. 



To be ''Strong minded" does not imply 

That one must wear the apparel of the male ; 

Or show her limbs, alas, alas, awry ! 

Or rig her ship for ev'ry foolish gale. 

No modest costume will be cut so high 

To hide the feet it will not quite avail ; 

The costume may be new and quite unique 

But it marks the wearer a silly freak. 



ALMETTA. 

Think ot our ladies, gathering at the Fair 

Of all the world in eighteen ninety-three, 

The great Columbian Exposition, where 

The mighty wonders of the land and sea 

Were spread before the gaze ; and then and there, 
In such an august presence with a free 

And too easy manner, display to man 

The disgusting features of the ''Can-can." 



God shield our country when our modest maids 
Have such example set by those who claim 

To have all merit, within certain grades. 

To lead the way, with hopes of highest aim, 

To better lives ; but make unceasing raids 

On all that 's strong and manly, and the same. 

Forgetting that Virtue 's alwa)'s discreet, 

Displa)' instead of taste their ankles neat. 



ALMETTA. 

I 've no objection to a pretty foot, 

And surely none to a shapely ankle ; 

And when, by chance, displayed in well made boot 
They give no cause in the heart to rankle ; 

But modesty will always aim to shoot 

Higher than the feet ; no heav'nly bank '11 

Ever break because it avoids displays 

That appeal alone to the vulgar gaze. 



True woman is content to follow out 

The purpose designed in her creation ; 

God made her higher than the men, no doubt, 
In moral worth and in queenly station ; 

But higher excellence she puts to rout, 

When she seeks no greater elevation 

Than comes with morbid style of dress 

That makes of her a very horrid mess. 

38 



ALMETTA. 

There is a work a woman well may do 

And keep herself unspotted from all fad ; 

For many hearts would quickly open to 

Her love and sympathy, which would make glad 

The homes of Want and Toil ; and thus imbue 

With Hope and Joy the lives that else were sad ; 

And shed a lustre on her holy name 

That would outshine all other worldly fame. 



And, yet, I don't believe divine command 
To cultivate the Home rests only on 

The woman ; nor that texts, always at hand, 
And constantly some people's lips upon, 

Apply alone to her, because of brand 

Put on them by the Saints now dead and gone ; 

For, if women wait, as suggested Paul, 

To learn at home, some would not learn at all. 

39 



ALMETTA. 

But in the home is where she best may reign, 

Where brightest her virtue and beauty shine ; 

Where loving smiles give quick relief from pain, 
And man exalts her to the noble shrine 

Where laid his best oblation is ; no main 
On earth is desolate where divine 

And holy light is shed, and where she moves 

A wife and mother and the home approves. 



And in the home a man's best endeavor 

Should be exerted to protect and shield 

His God-giv'n treasures ; he the lever 

Should be to lift all burdens, not to yield 

To foibles and to vices, which sever 

The ties that else would make the home a field 

So bright, so perfect, and so full of cheer, 

It would an Eden, ere the Fall, appear. 

40 



A L MJ-: TTA. 

I like to see a man and woman place 

Their shoulders firmly to the fam'ly wheel 

Each in proper sphere ; he boldy to face 

And cope with manly duty, true as steel ; 

While she o'er home with modesty and grace 

Presides ; her first great aim to make him feel 

At home ; such bands, I need hardly mention, 

Know not adverse connubial tension. 



A woman likes assistance in her work 

And so does man, though 't be but word of cheer, 
Or glance of sympathy, which says, "1 '11 shirk 

No duty which will help thee ; have no fear 
To call upon me". He 's worse than Turk 

Or Tartar who sits idly down with sneer 
Upon his face, and tries not to invent 
A healing balm for fam'ly discontent. 

41 



ALMETTA. 

These duties are reciprocal ; they are 

Due as much from one as from the other 

To ev'ry home they come as brightest star 
Of hope ; what 's sister's love to brother. 

What life would be without a fam'ly jar, 

What to child is care of loving mother, 

They are to home, dividends paid by love 

On bonds whose value 's far their face above. 



I have seen some women who did, I thought, 
Needlessly bear an undue share of pain ; 

And likewise men, whose lives seemed to be fl^aught 
With bitter tears, because they could not gain 

The things in life for which they nobly fought 
But got not, though on continual strain ; 

And when such natures are joined together, 

What wonder they break the nuptial tether ! 

42 



ALMETTA. 

But many whom we may think mismated 
Are far from being so ; they typify, 

In their Hves at home a joy that 's rated 

By them above the things that mortal eye 

In others sees ; when the heart is sated 

With outward form, conceahng purpose sly, 

(While arm in arm through social halls they roam), 

To fight it out when all alone at home. 



Almetta saw the best and brightest side 

Of life within the home ; for she knew not 

That great abundance simply opens wide 

The door to strife till more abundance 's got ; 

So in her home content she did abide 

Nor look with pain upon her lowly lot ; 

She felt the noble purpose in her heart 

Which seeks to rise, yet feels not envy's smart. 

43 



ALMETTA. 

Sweet is the blush that sits on Virtue's cheek ; 

Enchanting sweet the nectar we may sip, 
As devotees we list to hear her speak, 

And hang upon the word that from her lip 
E'er falls to cheer the lowly and the meek, 

And take from life the sting of social whip ; 
Which, obedient to a cringing fear. 
Pays court to gold, lets merit disappear. 



Sweet is the consolation one may find 

In conscious merit, though the world may frown, 
And turn an ear that 's deaf, an eye that 's blind, 

Upon his better talent ; and cry down 
His budding genius which, the narrow mind. 

Wrapped in its self-sufficient cowl and gown, 
Would fain oppress because he does not ask 
Its supercilious smile upon his task. 

44 



A L ME T TA . 

To gain applause, get in the social float 

With the narrow minds that lead the fashion ; 

Be sure to go by rail (too slow 's the boat), 
For one must hurry to make a mash on 

That kind of stuff; when taken by the throat 

'Twill fawn and cringe ; if not, lay the lash on. 

You '11 get a full reward for all your pains 

From those who know not brass from modest brains. 



Take, for instance, the modern man of prose, 
Or poet, if you please, or otherwise ; 

Upon the stage he makes his talents pose, 

Seeks for applause, looks for admiring eyes ; 

Gets fame, he thinks, from out the well-filled rows 

Of seats, though forced to hear the cat-call guys 

Of "gal'ry gods" when on their plane they see 

An "author" in burlesque and mimicry. 

4o 



ALMETTA. 

But that is hardly honest, manly fame 

Which comes from pand'ring to a morbid taste ; 
Nor is an author worthy of the name, 

To raise a laugh in others, puts to waste 
His precious time without the sense of shame ; 

Who 's ever ready with unseemly haste 
To mount the rostrum at poor Folly's call 
And be a butt alike for great and small. 



God help the man with talents well endowed, 
Who has no higher appreciation 

Of nature's gifts, than in a giggling crowd 

To show them off; and on this foundation 

Rear high a silly structure and be proud 
Of self-abasement, self-condemnation. 

The Author must be sorely off for bread 

Who poses thus at fifty cents a head. 

46 



ALMETTA. 

The poet, who belittles his own work, 
In " recitation " on the public stage ; 

And mimics, with many a turn and jerk. 

The "end-man" whoa doubtful war does wao-e 

For bread, may well be likened to a Burke, 
With talents to inspire, but who 'd engage 

In wrangling with a Wilkes, without an aim 

More noble than to get the mob's acclaim. 



Think of a Byron, Milton, Shakespeare, Pope, 
Putting up their talents for derision ; 

As though with negro minstrels they did cope 
For fame; ask of "end-man" a division 

Of the silly plaudits on which his hope 
Of bed and board is based ; Elysian 

Are not the pleasures of the heav'niy muse 

When thus her modest worth one does abuse. 

47 



almp:tta. 

But it 's the fashion, it 's the latter-day 

Method of getting one's self in the swim; 

To hire out, for man's ignoble pay. 

The talents which are born in her, or him, 

As is the case, and barter off the lay 

Of sacred minstrelsy ; and at the whim 

Of " Literary Bureau " take the train 

And fly from place to place for sordid gain. 



My gentle, gentle Muse ! may God forbid 
That I subject thee ever to such shame ; 

'Twere better that thy talents should be hid 
Beneath a bushel, than thy holy name 

Be dragged through literary slums, and mid 
The gaping, yawping crowd I thee defame 

For filthy gold ; ne'er shall it separate 

Us two ; I '11 hold thee pure at any rate. 

48 



ALMETTA. 

My gentle, gentle Muse ! blest are thy charms 

When love and hope and joy thy songs inspire ; 

Thou soar'st above the things of earth's alarms 
And yield'st the fruitage of the heav'nly lyre 

Unto my soul, and ev'ry fear* disarms ; 

And gently lead'st it from the worldly mire 

To place where love and purity combine 

And there I bow at thy eternal shrine. 



My gentle, gentle Muse ! be thou to me 
In ev'ry lonely hour a genial friend ; 

Within whose soul the gem of constancy 

Resplendent shines ; teach me always to bend 

My head in presence of thy purity ; 

From thy blest home of perfect peace descend, 

That I may cultivate thy matchless worth 

And share the joys to which thou givest birth. 

49 



ALMETTA. 

But this digression is longer somewhat 
Than I at first designed to make it, 

(Though it 's a Hcense ev'ry man has got); 
But I confess that when I did o'ertake it, 

It came with so much ease into my plot 

That I have been very loth to break it ; 

But I '11 conduct you to another scene 

In which our hero meets our heroine. 



For you must know there was a social chasm 

Between the two since they mature had grown ; 

And though in youth they knew no such phantasm, 
The time had come when Mark felt he must own 

Its power ; must not cause a nervous spasm 

In the fibers social ; and they 'd been thrown 

Not together, since he came from college, 

Somewhat puffed up by his greater knowledge. 




§ ^ 

a ^ 

'a o 

£ o 

as a 



3 o- 

^5 






ALMETTA. 

Almetta, seated in a park one day, 

In pensive mood was musing- on the scene ; 
A book with well worn pages open lay 

Upon her lap, while at her feet the green 
And tender grass of springtime, as in play, 

Was waving in the breeze ; and just between 
Her and the western sun a brigrht rainbow 
Painted with radiant tints the fountain's flow. 



The month was May, the sweetest of the year, 

When nature gives her best and brightest skies 

When flowers bloom upon the sward to cheer 

The loving heart; when all the heav'nly dyes 

Are seen in nature's freshness, and the ear 

Catches first the song of the bird that flies 

Back from its winter home on joyful wing. 

And heralds with its song return of spring. 



b 



ALMETTA. 

The month when nature's notes are all in tune ; 

When gentle zephyrs in their freshness blow 
O'er fields of early blossoms ; and the moon 

Sheds o'er the world her softest light ; when grow 
In healthy vigor the flowers that on June 

Their fragrance and their beauty will bestow ; 
The month, when lark returned, does sweetly trill 
Her notes in ev'ry vale, on ev'ry hill. 

The month that 's cradled, as it were, between 
The gusts of April and the calm of June ; 

Whose mission 'tis to prove a gentle mean 
Between these two, and be to us a boon 

From nature's hand, which paints in living green, 

The fields and trees, and puts the brooks in tune 

For that sweet song begun by cycling years, 

When first she threw to space eternal spheres. 

54 



ALMETTA. 

The sun was sinking in the western sky, 

But seemed to rest a cloud's dark edge upon, 

As though 'twould kiss the earth a fond good bye 
Ere below the horizon it had gone ; 

Perhaps, did linger that its rays might lie 

Upon the path that Mark was treading on, 

To show Almetta in that lovely light 

Which would ere long be lost in coming night. 



Mark stopped with sudden impulse as he saw 
Her form before him, with head reclining 

Upon her hand, but dared not nearer draw 
Lest he seem her thought to be divining ; 

To him her face and form had not a flaw. 
And to her he felt his heart inclining 

In that sentiment which, when born above, 

Deserves and bears the gentle name of Love. 

, 55 



ALMETTA. 

But which, when born of passion of the earth, 
Is Hke the earth, full of corroding dross ; 

And has not will or power to give birth 

To best and noblest impulse ; but like moss 

Which clings to shaded ground, it leads to dearth 
Of happiness, and yields to life a cross 

And tangled purpose ; what it was to him 

We '11 learn ere long if we keep in the swim. 



Mark gazed as one who 'neath some potent spell, 
Bewildered stands, and with his soul entranced 

Lones to draw near, but knows a motion 'd tell 
Her of his presence, had he but advanced 

A step ; he stood and gazed nor footfall fell 

To startle her whose pensiveness enhanced 

Her beauty angelic, and made her seem 

The realization of Love's fond dream. 

56 



ALMETTA. 

Mark gazed, and o'er his heart there came the spell 
Which to us is borne on Memory's wings, 

When on the Past's rich joys and hopes we dwell, 
And through the heart their gentle echo rings ; 

Like voice of friend, who in some distant dell 

Recalls the song, well nigh forgot, and sings 

In notes whose tenderness brings back the years 

Whose record stands unmarred by blots and blurs. 



A sigh escaped his lips, a shade's deep tinge 
Rested for a moment on his brow ; 

As if he felt some inward fire to singe 

The surface of his heart, ne'er felt till now ; 

When Mem'ry opened wide the door on hinge 

Which long unused had been, for him to bow 

In presence of a beauty that outshone 

The May-day bloom by nature now full-blown. 

57 



ALMETTA. 

And well he might upon the picture gaze 

With soul enraptured, for 'tis seldom given 

To mortal man, while treading earthly ways, 

And doomed yet awhile the world to live in, 

To rest his eyes on nature all ablaze 

With glory majestic, and see heaven 

Personified, as it were, in woman 

And doubt, and yet know, that she is human. 



For she no longer was the child he 'd known 
In school or playing with him on the lawn ; 

Ere in his heart the seeds of pride were sown 

And 'tween the two the social line was drawn ; 

Or he had learned to bow at fashion's throne 
And for the patronage of caste to fawn ; 

To him the vision was so pure, so good, 

She seemed perfection of true womanhood. 

58 



ALMETTA. 

Almetta sat with eyes bent on the ground, 
Their light by heavy lashes partly hid ; 

A wealth of ringlets loosely fell around 

Her shapely neck and shoulders, and unbid 

Her heart sent tender blushes to abound 

Upon her cheek ; and these were seen amid 

The waving ringlets, which the breeze displaced, 

Like rubies that some costly setting graced. 



Her foot upon the sward did rise and fall 

As if time to music it was keeping ; 
Her lips did move as if in answering call 

To thoughts which o'er her soul were sweeping ; 
Yet uttered not the word which might appal 

The silence which o'er the lea was creeping ; 
Her bosom, rising, falling, like the sea 
In calm, was from the storm's fierce lashings free. 

59 



ALMETTA 

Her mind was wand'ring from the printed page 

From which in careless mood she 'd been reading ; 

To scenes which early thought did once engage, 
And along whose paths her soul was leading ; 

Again she roamed the fields of youth, ere age 

For higher joys than the present 's pleading ; 

Again she played upon the springtime lea 

A child, from ev'ry sense of sorrow free. 



She had no thought that Mark was standing near, 
Nor dreamed upon her his eyes were bending ; 

And, yet, in ev'ry thought he did appear 
Along her path, as memory, wending 

Its way through avenues of light and cheer. 

Brought back the life which needs not defending. 

She saw not Mark, nor dreamed in him her mood 

Had waked the thought his mind had long eschewed. 

60 



A L ME T TA . 

Mark hesitated but a moment more, 

Then advanced, put out his hand in greeting 
Ahnetta rose in effort to restore 

The composure lost by sudden meeting ; 
Which from her cheek had sent the blush it bore 

Back to her heart, now so loudly beating ; 
But as she recognized her )'outhful friend 
Her heart new blushes to her cheek did send. 



But Mark with ease and grace did lead her mind 
In paths to which it had not stranger been ; 

Reverted to the past when the)- did find 
Pleasure in each other's company ; in 

Words of burning eloquence he outlined 

His life since they had parted, he to win 

Laurels in his profession, but they were. 

He said, not like early memories dear. 

61 



ALMETTA. 

Almetta listened, on each word she hung-, 

i\s Mark retraced the gladsome paths of youth ; 

Lived o'er again the scenes which sweetly clung 
About her heart, the legacy of truth 

To riper years ; not e'en his gifted tongue 

Could paint in hues too bright the day ere tooth 

Of Time puts on our hearts and in our flesh 

The wounds which mem'ry makes to bleed afresh. 



Almetta's soul with inspiration glowed 

As pictures of the past Mark brought to view ; 
Again her feet traversed the sun-lit road 

Of youth, always well worn, yet always new ; 
Again her life with joy and mirth o'erflowed, 

And flowers in beauty and fragrance grew 
On ev'ry side ; again with Mark she ran 
In childish play, forgot he was a man. 

62 



ALMETTA. 

The time sped quickly by, an hour Hying 

On wings so Hght Almetta scarce did heed 

That the day around them fast was dying, 

As Mark her mind 'long mem'ry's path did lead ; 

Nor that the dew was on the green sward lying, 
So sweet the joys on which her heart did feed. 

She sat as one by subtle pow'r enthralled, 

As Mark the happy scenes of youth recalled. 



Ere darkness fell upon the scene she rose 

And to her humble home her footsteps turned ; 

Mark walked beside her, talked of that repose, 

One finds in life, when from the day he 's earned 

A night of rest ; spoke of the good that flows 

To humble walks in life ; said he had learned 

To look to them for pleasure, for he knew 

They oft contained the only blessings true. 

03 



ALMETTA. 

Spoke of society and of its ills, 

Dwelt on the envies that are in it born ; 
Drew contrast 'tween them and the joy that fills 

The heart, while life is yet within the morn 
Of youth ; declared such envies were the bills 

One pays when he the social bank draws on, 
And thus by words well chosen he did blind . 
Perception to the thoughts that filled his mind. 



Almetta's heart, taught only to confide, 
Believed him in every word sincere ; 

Nor in the least her thoughts essayed to hide 
Or other than herself deigned to appear ; 

E'en as to a brother she opened wide 

The door to confidence, and naught in fear 

Concealed Irom him who had a brother been 

When years before they played upon the green. 

tu 



ALMETTA. 

And thus the acquaintance, by chance renewed, 

To friendship grew as Mark did often seek 
Almetta's home, and in her soul imbued 

With higher purpose, which her Hfe did speak, 
Found what a nobler, better man had wooed 

From highest, purest motives, which bespeak 
The manly heart and generous nature 

With which on earth, God endows the creature. 



Days, weeks and months on rapid wing went by, 
And Autumn came with harvests garnered in; 

Mark was her frequent guest, upon the sly, 

And from Almetta her best smile did win ; 

For, blinded by her heart, she did not try 
To find a reason why he never in 

Broad daylight came, but always in the night 

And but seldom then if the moon shone bright. 

65 



ALMETTA. 

But Mark, unasked, in explanation said 

That his profession kept him on the run ; 

And when he came to her he always lied 

From duty that must needs be left undone ; 

Did he but wait for leisure, thus he plead, 

His heart would never by the glowing- sun 

Of her bright smile be lighted ; he would be 

Kept from her away continually. 



It was the tale, somewhat changed, however, 

That married men resort to when the " lodge " 

An excuse affords for them to sever 

Home ties at night, and round the corner dodge, 

To meet in revel companions clever, 

And merry make o'er dish of rakish podge. 

Yet, the difference in his case was not 

As much in man as in the porridge-pot. 

6G 



ALMETTA. 

But soon Almetta's heart had far outgrown 

Her tender years, and ev'ry word and look, 

That he bestowed, was hke the seed fresh sown 
In land so tilled that deepest root it took, 

And sprung to life and beauty ; on his tone 

She trembled with emotion deep, and shook 

At his hand's touch and followed with her eyes 

His steps as though they led to Paradise. 



He was to her the substance of desire, 

The one on whom all her love did center ; 

Within her bosom 'twas consuming^ fire 

That burned and glowed in the soul 't did enter ; 

She loved, and in her heart love did inspire 

The best and purest purpose, which lent here 

Song to gladness, and did daily prove 

The all-absorbing power of her love. 

67 



ALMETTA. 

And she was happy, and her heart as Hght 

As morning's mists on the meadows lying ; 

Or as the length'ning shadows when the night 
Steals on day in arms of twilight dying ; 

The future to her heart and soul was bright 

And free from tears, from regrets and sighinj 

And, like the present, seemed replete with joy 

And, like her love, exempt from base alloy. 



She loved, and in the thought the deep-dyed hue 
Of life's warm current went sweetly flowing 

From heart to cheek, and o'er her pathway threw 
The sun's warm rays, in w^hose early glowing, 

When spring returns with balmy breeze and dew. 
One goes abroad future harvests sowing ; 

And in anticipation garners in 

A four-fold crop to fill the worldly bin. 

68 



A L ME TTA. 

Or as the sculptor who the marble takes 

From nature's hand and chips off piece by piece ; 
But leaves the form which his conception makes, 

And which his chisel deftly did release, 
A thing of love, that in the heart awakes 

A kindred love that lives but to increase ; 
So from love she chiseled her ideal 
Nor thought nor ieared it would prove unreal. 



And she was happy, for she thought herself 
Loved e'en as she loved, as true, as well ; 

Knew not the heart could be allured by pelf 
And in a market base its best hopes sell ; 

Dreamed not that love could ever be like elf 
A mischief-maker in the heart to dwell ; 

Be there to toy with hope and then take wings 

And leave the soul a prey to bitter stings. 

5 69 



ALMETTA. 

She knew this not. and when upon her hand 

Mark placed the ring which their engagement sealed, 

And said, though but a little golden band, 

It was the type of love which had appealed 

Long to his heart, life seemed to her a grand 

And beauteous structure, in which concealed. 

By veil of future lay the joys so rife 

Whose full fruition comes with name of wife. 



Oh, Love ! thou sweetest child of human heart. 
That rules with golden scepter in the breast 

How great the happiness thou dost impart, 
When to the soul thou givest gentle rest. 

Thy angel form 's too good for any mart 

And I would hold thee ever-present guest ; 

There to remain resplendent over all 

The virtues of this terrestrial ball. 

70 



ALMETTA. 

A life of love is a life of beauty, 

For inspiration is the child of Love ; 

.It nerves the heart for each holy duty 

And draws from living fountains far above ; 

It is the Tree of Life, always fruity, 

And yet removed from cruel push and shove 

One meets in rougher contact with his race 

When once he enters on the worldly pace. 



-Great is the influence o'er the life of man 

Of love, when from the earthy passion free ; 

'Tis then it from his soul removes the ban 
And turns him to a blest eternity. 

Never behind but leading Virtue's van. 

Then why should I restrain my praise of thee, 

Oh, Love ! because some Cynic of me 'd say, 

'' It is the lion's skin, the donkey's bray ?" 

71 



ALMETTA. 

Oh, Love ! thou art indeed fair nature's child, 

A bHthesome, happy lass, (if thou hast sex); 

And whether tamed by time or running wild 

In youthful heart, thoy wast not born to vex ; 

Many the tender hours on which thou 'st smiled 
In peasants' homes and palaces of Rex ; 

Joyous thyself, to joys thou lead'st the way. 

Comfort of the grave, gladness of the gay. 



Oh, bachelor, maid ! wrinkled, old and gray, 

Who walk the avenues of life forlorn ; 
Why point your bony digits at the gay 

And wreathe your tasteless lips with smiles of scorn ? 
Can ye not see ye stand along life's way, 

Misshapen statues, trav'lers to forewarn? 
No warmth in life, no solace in thy ken. 
Far from Cupid strayed, no hope in Hymen. 



ALMETTA. 

And when you say that love is but a bhght, 

A snare to catch the young and tender heart ; 

And that you Hve in shades of deepest night 

Because you once acknowledged Cupid's dart ; 

Think not the eye has lost its prescient sight, 
Or fails to see the envies now that start ; 

My judgment is, 'twas all a counterfeit, 

You wasn't "in it", not "a little bit". 



I hate the man, so lost to all concern, 

That he steels his heart against impression, 

And in the purest life does not discern 

Something worthy of his best confession ; 

And in his soul feels not the fires burn 

Which enforce to sentiment concession ; 

Who's lost to highest and to noblest good. 

Nor bows his head to worth of womanhood. 

73 



ALMETTA, 

I hate the term " to fall'' when it implies 

'I hat we've caught on to Cupid's form so fair 

For it seems to me no misnomer lies 
As it does here, for in the very air 

We breathe, the earth beneath and in the skies 
Are protests 'gainst expressions all so bare 

Of romance, which we thus apply to love 

As though -to it one comes down from above. 



As though he trips as on he stumbling goes 
Without an aim the path of life to tread ; 

And then by accident he stumps his toes 

And on the ground his sprawling form is spread ; 

His shins all bruised, and bleeding at the nose. 

With pains in limbs and hips and back and head. 

That is a simile fair, but Cupid 

Isn't caught by such a process stupid. 

74 



.4 L ME TTA. 

If there's an up or down to love, it's not 

When one fond heart is another wooing; 

For man and woman find no brighter lot 

Than in possession when done with sueing ; 

Though ups and downs come when the parent's got 
A notion to stop the billing, cooing ; 

And calls the fair one to her room before 

Her lover comes and firmly bars the door. 



And thus on love puts parental damper 

And shuts off the draft with lowering scowls ; 

And tries with parent's scorn love to hamper 

And change its current with his frowns and growls ; 

Knows not the elf will return with scamper 
As light and airy as domestic fowls, 

When driven off and one thinks home ties loosed, 

Return at night and seek the favored roost. 

75 



ALMETTA. 

The " ups " are found, no doubt, when on ladder 
The faithful lover to her window goes, 

With step as noiseless as moving shadow 

And drums the pane to wake her from repose ; 

The "downs" alas! when the heart's made sadder 
By waking the sire who, with oaths and blows, 

Assaults young Cupid, drives him from the scene. 

And stops the hegira to Gretna Green. 



But only for a time, for love by bars 

Has never yet been holden ; though not strong 
And prone to war as other gods, like Mars 

For instance, Cupid has a gentle song 
Which breaks all bonds ; which is and always was 

All powerful to lead the heart along 
The paths of peace as well as paths of ire 
And in the end escape the vengeful sire. 

76 



ALMETTA. 

The fact is, one don't " fall " in love at all, 

But eets there in a kind of dreamy swim ; 

Or float which, something like the rolling ball, 

When started down a steep incline with vim, 

Onward rushes to the opposing wall 

As thouofh alono- the surface it did skim ; 

A kind of swim which ends in perfect bliss, 

The least of whose pleasures is not the kiss. 



The kiss, I mean, that 's matrimonial, 

I 'd not suggest, of course, another kind ; 

Especially when ceremonial 

Is oft invoked to make and keep us blind 

To those sweet essences, colonial, 

Which in the kiss of love one 's sure to find. 

Man may be imperfect, but he 's human 

Enough when kissing to kiss a woman. 

77 



ALMETTA. 

In this he differs not from womankind, 

Who, I 've noticed, often kiss each other ; 

And while I 've no objections, to my mind 

It 's doubHng up the sweets when together 

They join their lips, when they could eas'ly find 
Some fair friend who has an elder brother ; 

And who, perhaps, has not so modest grown 

That he life's simple joys would all disown. 



But to our story : with the spring's return. 

With birds and blossoms which one year before 

Had filled her heart with love, caused it to yearn 
For love, a change Almetta's life came o'er ; 

She moved as though her love had ceased to burn 
With that bright glow it had in days of yore ; 

Listless, languid, and often shedding tears, 

She seemed as one a prey to constant fears. 



A L ME TTA. 

Her home, once bright, was now by gloom o'ercast, 
Her soul bowed down as from constant toiHng ; 

And she did weep, as if from out the past 

Came a form from which she was recoiling ; 

And through her veins the blood went rushing fast 
As if in her heart 'twas seething, boiling ; 

The flush that lit her cheek no longer came 

From Love which Hope and Joy ignite to flame. 



Companionship she did avoid of friends ; 

Shrank from the gaze of parents to her dear ; 
Shrank from the world like one who apprehends 

Some sudden danger which is ever near. 
And which to her excited fancy lends 

The forms and shapes that fill with mortal fear. 
Upon her brow sat Disappointment's shade 
And Melancholy did her soul invade. 

79 



ALMETTA. 

The heart, where gentle love had been enthroned, 
Of dismal forebodings was now the haunt ; 

The voice, attuned to song, now only groaned 
In sorrow ; life, bereft of joy, stood gaunt 

And wan, a specter of the Past ; bemoaned 

The harsh and cruel fate which seemed to taunt 

The heart with joys that once it dwelt upon. 

But now transformed to grinning skeleton. 



But she bore on as woman oft has done 

And uncomplaining saw the days go by; 

Hoping he'd restore to the heart he'd won 
The joy it always felt when he was nigh ; 

And when he came (though seldom now) she'd run 
In haste to meet him, and suppress the sigh 

With which her bosom heaved, and dry the lid 

Oft overcharged with tears that came unbid. 

80 



A L ME T TA . 

Thus time went on and cheerless winter came, 
And Mark his vacillating course pursued ; 

Oft made the promise but forebore his name 
To bestow upon her ; Almetta sued 

In vain for recognition, and became 

Convinced at last that he his promise rued ; 

Became convinced that his love had been 

Assumed to hide a base-born purpose in. 



She loved, but in her heart felt not the thrilling 
Of that love by heart reciprocated, 

Which to the mind and soul brings not the chilling 
Of utter dread ; she was like belated 

Traveler on some lonely road unwilling 

To proceed in darkness, but who 's fated 

To grope his way and look in vain for light 

Upon the road to cheer his weary sight. 

81 



ALMETTA. 

Hers was the change which on a life is wrought 
By that disease which feeds upon the soul ; 

When on the wiilgs of ecstacy is caught 
The aspiration of a hfe, and roll 

All clouds beneath it ; then suddenly fraught 

With pain and tears it sees the longed-for goal 

Slip from its grasp and further receding 

Comes back to earth, wounded, sore and bleeding. 



And why this change ? Why had sorrow taken 

The place within her soul where joy had reigned ? 

Was it because she had been forsaken, 

Because the goal she 'd sought she 'd not attained ? 

Yes, she 'd learned, alas ! that Mark to waken 

Love in her heart had love for her but feigned. 

And it was knowledge of this faithlessness 

That did her heart and mind and soul oppress. 

82 



ALMETTA. 

Yes, it was this ; was this and something more 

Which hushed the song she was sweetly singino- 

When to her heart Mark came two years before 
A tale of love, hope and beauty bringino- ; 

But which, with lapse of time, her heart strings tore 
And left her soul with agony wringing. 

But the story 's better told in this note, 

Which about this time she sent him. She wrote : 



" I trusted thee with woman's holy trust, 
Upon thy word, thy honor, I relied ; 

I felt the joys which knew not this disgust 

And poignant sorrow ; as expectant bride 

I worshiped at thy feet, though mortal dust. 

And would for thee most willingly have died. 

I loved thee, but how well God only knows 

Or why it is I suffer now these throes. 

83 



ALM ETTA. 

" Mine 's a mortal anguish ; take from me sting 
Of social lash ; leave me not thus to be 

An outcast, hated and despised, a thing 

Shunned by my sex, no longer willing, free, 

To mingle with my kind. Oh ! do not bring 
Such dread reproach upon my purity. 

My love, whate'er it was, has not deserved 

The scorn of him whose fatal lust I served. 



'' Think of thy mother, gentle, loving, kind, 

Who bore thee on her knee, who always true 

To womanhood's best instincts ; in her find 
A type of me, save pain to folly due ; 

Then look within thyself and be not blind 
To sense of right, but simple justice do 

To one who loved you ; yes, who loves you still 

Despite the terrors which her soul now fill. 

84 



A L ME T TA . 

" Think of my mother, as she sees her pride 
Bowed down in spirit, victim of this woe ; 

And in her anguish see what ills betide 

A mother's heart ; no pow'r can stop the blow 

Save yours ; be thou a man and to my side 
Hasten at once ere I am forced to know 

That thou'rt unworthy of the love I gave, 

A wolf in clothing of the sheep, a knave ! 



" Then think of me, who loved you, ah ! so well, 
And ask thyself if this be treatment fair. 

To let me suffer all the pangs of hell, 

And earthly odium, which you should share 

Alike with me ; was 't I alone who fell 

Into this sin ? nay, thou also should'st bear 

With me its obloquy, or now atone 

As far as can be for the wrong that 's done. 

6 85 



ALMETTA. 

" Unto thy manhood now make I appeal ; 

Be true unto thyself and unto me ; 
God only knows what his poor creatures feel 

When once their faith is lost in constancy ; 
Mine was a love the heart could not conceal ; 

Thou wast its idol, broken though it be 
It cHngs to thee, is yet beneath the spell ; 
Fulfill thy promise, all may yet be well. 



" Yet for another I would plead. Alas ! 

For one who knows not earthly sin and shame 
A child of guilty love, but let that pass, 

I seek for her the right her father's name 
To bear throughout her life. Can you surpass 

In baseness all that 's base, and let the blame 
Of this our sin rest on her life, when she 
Is yours and mine, is our progeny? 

86 



ALMETTA. 

*' Ponder well upon these things. Beware ! 

Hers is a sinless life, cruel the stain 
That thou would'st put upon her, make her heir 

To our disgrace and folly ; it is plain 
The path of solemn duty lies not where 

Thy feet have strayed ; heap not this needless pain 
Upon a life whose innocence might prove 
A blessing rich and sanctify our love. 



*' When on her face I gaze, look in her eyes, 
And see the inspiration of her life, 

A mother's joy is lost in tearful sighs, 

A mother's heart yearns for the name of wife ; 

The only name beneath God's sun-lit skies 

Which would renew my joy and stop the strife 

Within my soul ; but more for her so fair 

Than for myself thy name I yearn to bear. 

87 



A L ME TTA. 

*' But for my babe I might be well content 

To give thee up, to see thee ne'er again ; 

For little 's been the joy thy love has lent 

To me, when I contrast the shame and pain, 

Which now I suffer, with the hope that went 

Deep in my foolish soul ; how mad, how vain ! 

The passion seems when first I realized 

That I was loved, but now know I'm despised. 



" Nay, more than this ; neglect I could forgive 
If I alone its victim were to be ; 

For I might even be content to live 
Out all my days in bitter misery 

And self-seclusion, if the social sieve 

Would justice do and separate from me 

And from my sin the child unto me born, 

And drive not in her flesh this galling thorn 

88 



ALMETTA. 

■" For this I can not hope, for social laws 
Exist not for the fallen and the weak ; 

Then on thy honor, I command thee, pause ; 

And from my life and hers remove the bleak 

And cheerless winter, which like canker gnaws 

Upon my breaking heart ; come thou and seek 

With me forgiveness from our Father, God, 

And pray he lift from her this chast'ning rod." 



A day, a week, a month dragged slowly by 
But the answer came not to her letter ; 

The shadow deepened on her life, her eye 

Was suffused with constant tears ; Almetta 

Saw with many an agonizing cry 

She was deserted ; that she had set her 

Heart on one to duty blind ; one now lost 

To proper sense of what her love had cost. 



ALMETTA. 

Her resolution was quickly taken, 

Though much she dreaded to appeal to law ; 
She felt she could not in Mark awaken 

A sense of right, to see as now she saw 
Her true condition ; she'd been forsaken, 

Deserted, and for what ? That he eclat 
Might win in his profession and not be 
United throughout life to such as she. 

And what was she but what he'd made her ? 

Had she not been in every purpose true? 
Had not his love to the very nadir 

Of woman's existence brought her? She knew 
The arts by which he sought to evade her, 

And shun the blame to his and her sin due. 
The truth was forced upon her, any her soul 
Drank deep the dregs of Disappointment's bowl. 

90 



A L ME T TA . 

Her heart, her home, her hfe had been undone ; 

She had been robbed of that no pow'r on earth 
Could e'er restore ; and now the only one, 

Who could her comfort be, gave her but dearth 
Of love and smypathy ; the genial sun 

Forebore on her to shine, and on her hearth 
A shadow deep had settled ; no bright ray 
Vouchsafed a promise of returning day. 



Oh, Sin ! horrid is thy ill-shapen face, 

When thou'rt seen in broken pledge to woman ; 
Condemned thou should'st be without day of grace, 

For of all sins thou 'rt the most inhuman ; 
The pangs of second death attend thy pace ; 

(True, the law provides that she may sue man), 
But when she sues and gets a just decree, 
It only gives her shame publicity, 

91 



ALMETTA. 

The social laws are sadly out of joint, 

When by their canons stands the dread decree, 
That she who errs, though only once, must point 

Downward her course to deeper misery ; 
And from vortex of sin, lift up, annoint. 

The head of her destroyer with a free 
And unsought pardon ; better to reverse 
The law. and let on man's head rest the curse. 



And herein lies the gravest social sin 

Of this our age ; upon the weak we turn 

The back of deadly scorn because she's been 
Blinded by love, could not in him discern 

The thought impure that lurked his smile within, 
By which she was deceived ; 'tis she we spurn 

Instead of him, and on her life we place 

The burden of what should be his disgrace. 

92 



ALMETTA. 

The question 's one, not of position, for 

The humbler place she holds in social state, 

The more protection she 's in need of, nor 

The less she should receive ; he 's base in-grate, 

And his design all true men should abhor, 

Who seeks, in guise of love, to underrate 

Her virtuous scruples, and then to claim 

The right to vilify Love's holy name. 



What 's position ? What is it after all. 

Save accident of birth or merit's meed ? 

And who '11 deny that some of those who fall 
Wholly reclaimed might be, if gently freed 

From drinking of that bitter, social gall, 

Which oft contains the soul-destroying seed 

Of this life and the next ? which breeds despair 

On earth and takes from heaven its joys rare ? 

98 



ALMETTA. 

But to return ; Almetta realized 

That she had been deceived, that he had sought 
Her love with evil purpose and, disguised 

In soft and gentle speech, that he had brought 
Into her home a viper ; she had prized 

His seeming love ; she knew not it was fraught 
With misery, for she had ever been 
Confiding, true ; she had no thought of sin. 



Hers was the sin of weakness ; as the clay 

In potter's hands he could her mold at will ; 

To her his love had come as brightest day 

The yearnings of a woman's heart to fill ; 

To him her love was nothing save a way 
Of pleasantry and pastime ; and until 

He saw the flower droop in mute despair 

Did he give the future one thought of care. 

94 



ALMETTA. 

E'en then, with utter baseness of his kind, 

He turned his back upon her ; ceased to call 

As was his wont to see her ; he was blind 
To ev'ry manly duty ; said her fall 

To others, not himself, was due ; to find 

Cause of reproach, his sland'rous tongue the pall 

Of lowest depths of sin put on her name, 

And sought in her disgrace to hide his shame. 



Almetta was not wanting friends who came 

With tidinofs of this baseness ; to her heart 

It was like gall and wormwood, and the fiame 

Of love was well nigh quenched ; the fatal dart 

Of slander stung her spirit, caused her name 

By those who knew her to be mocked ; its smart 

Nerved her to desperation, and she wrote 

To her faithless lover this final note : 

95 



ALMETTA. 

" I wrote you briefly sev'ral days ago 

But have received no answer ; I assume, 

Though such conclusion I 've been very slow 

To reach, that you 've determined in the gloom 

Of this, our mutual sin, to leave me ; go 

Into thy former haunts despite the bloom 

Which from my cheek has faded ; take no thought 

How dearly unto me my shame was bought. 



" Believing this, I would unto you speak, 
Calmly and without anger, for I feel, 

Though I have sinned, it was because I 'm weak, 
Because I was not strong my heart to steel 

'Gainst thy seductive wiles ; I did not seek 

Thy love ; I was content with modest weal, 

And not till thou didst on my path appear 

Did I aspire to thy higher sphere. 

96 



ALMETTA. 

" Mine was an humble but a virt'ous home, 

Before I knew the blight of treach'rous love ; 

(Pardon the word, 'twere sinful thus to gloam 

Such passion with a term that 's born above) ; 

A place it was where modest joys did roam 

Untrammeled, free ; where Conscience did approve 

The simple lives that tend to modest worth 

And throw their light upon the parent hearth. 



" Into this home an artful cunning came, 

Personified in likeness of a man ; 
'Twas yours, the scion of an honored name, 

But, armed against my peace with deadly ban, 
You sought me out and put the blush of shame 

Upon a cheek, which nature once did fan 
Into an honest warmth ; which had no pain 
And which was from the heart its best refrain. 

97 



ALMETTA. 

"■ Thy tale of love was pleasant to my ear, 

The first I'd ever heard from lips of man ; 

What wonder then that I should stop to hear 

Thy words, or that my heart unto thee ran ? 

Disguised as love, I saw no scalding tear 

Lurk in thy words ; to me they were the van 

Of Joy's procession grand, almost divine, 

And such I treasured up and thought them mine. 



■" You know the rest, how with deceitful word 

And manner smooth and sweetly cadenced voice, 

You won upon my heart ; how like the bird, 

Long caged, I flew to thee, made thee my choice, 

And with a woman's love my heart did gird ; 

Nor stopped to ask if thy love would invoice 

At all the worth it seemed to have for me. 

Knowing my truth, I thought no wrong ot thee. 



ALMETTA. 

*' I loved you ; nay, that's hardly word as strong 
As I might use to make my feelings known ; 

It was a power, gifted with a song 

Of richest melody ; a breeze that's blown 

From heav'nly shores upon a desert long 

Unused to verdure, and where sands alone 

Greet the tired gaze ; it was in me the sum 

Of human hope, a type of heav'n to come. 



" In fullness of this hope I took delight, 

For 'twas my meat, my drink, my life, my all ; 

It was the flower which I thought no blight 

Could e'er o'ertake ; the strongf, endurinof wall 

Of my protection ; in the darkest night 
It would, obedient to ni)- heart's call, 

Surcease of sorrow yield, and ever be 

Of love's rich fruit a good, prolific tree. 

99 . 



ALMETTA. 

" Such was the love I gave ; such the power 

For all that 's good and true it might have been ; 

But thou hast made me rue the fatal hour 

When first I saw you, when thy smile did win 

A heart imbued with love for ev'ry flow'r 

That bloomed its path along ; a soul that sin, 

Of that degrading kind which now I feel, 

Had never entered, its best hopes to steal. 



" You did that home, that heart, that life invade 
With guilty purpose ; you did rudely take 

The brightest gem that can adorn the maid, 

And leave her heart bereft, when for your sake 

Alone she sinned ; and now you would degrade 
Your child and mine, and by desertion make 

Of her a thing of scorn ; escape the blame 

And e'en deny to her your sullied name. 

100 



ALMETTA. 

" You have been deaf to all entreaty ; would 

That I had words to move you to the right ; 

But I 've appealed in name of thy manhood, 

The mother's name, honor's, our babe's ; in light 

Of Conscience now aroused in vain ; no good 
Seems in thy heart to be ; and iji this night 

Of anguish I am left to brood alone 

Upon the sin for which you should atone. 



" Among my friends my word you have denied, 

You 've scoffed at pledges which to me you gave ; 

You 've said you ne'er intended me your bride 

To make ; you 've said in substance, ' Let her rave 

For she 's the victim of a silly pride ; 

Her words are vain, not worth attention grave '. 

And this is my reward, thus to be stung 

In my disgrace by words of lying tongue. 
7 101 



ALMETTA. 

" I do not threaten you ; far be it now 

From me to call down vengeance on your head ; 
Beneath the blow I would most humbly bow, 

Although my sin doth burn like molten lead, 
Could I but take the stain from off her brow, 

And save her from the fate I so much dread ; 
A nameless child, a waif, a thing of scorn. 
Her parentage denied, herself ill born. 



" To her I owe a duty, solemn, true. 

The highest of a parent, and shall see, 

If there be law, despite thy name, that you 
In open court shall be adjudged to be 

Her sire ; the one above all others who 

Should her and me protect ; in that decree, 

Though I may not secure thy family name, 

I'll make you share with me and her this shame. 

102 



ALMETTA. 

■*' Such is my purpose ; from 't I will not swerve ; 

To-morrow, if you do not right the wrong 
By giving me your name and thus observe 

That moral right you did neglect too long, 
With writ from legal court I will you serve 

And bind your limbs with felon's galling thong 
I know the law and will to it appeal 
Lest thy pledged word be fixed with legal seal. 



*' I '11 write to you no more ; if you will do 
But simple justice unto me and mine, 

i will, as I have always been, be true 

To thee in ev'ry word and thought ; be thine 

In purest, highest sense, which once I knew 
Before I met thee ; now obey divine 

And mortal's highest law, or share with me 

The bitter curses of this obloquy." 

103 



ALMETTA. 

By special messenger the letter went 

To Mark's own hand ; trembling he broke the seal 
And read it through ; his brow with dark intent, 

And which he made no effort to conceal, 
Was clouded o'er ; the pages he then rent 

In many pieces ; on them placed his heel, 
As though her words he 'd grind into the floor, 
And turning, without answer, shut the door. 



The lad to Almetta at length returned 

And, as he was bidden, recounted all 

That had occurred ; told how his face had burned 
When the door, which opened into the hall, 

Was slammed upon him ; how her letter, spurned 
And torn in pieces, did around him fall ; 

Also how Mark did look, his bosom swell. 

And other things on which I need not dwell. 

104 



ALMETTA. 

Almetta paid the bill, 'twas forty cents, 

For he 'd been gone two hours ; 'twas right 

She should, he said, though he'd sat on a fence 
Most of the time to watch a childish fight 

Between two boys ; he cared not for expense, 
If Almetta paid it, (for he was bright). 

And early learned the comp'ny would reprove 

The boy who served with quick and honest move. 

One of the things I can not understand 
Is why a messenger is said to run. 

And always advertised to be at hand 

When he is seldom in, if you want one ; 

Nor why, when got, his feet should to the land 
Tenacious cling, as if he weighed a ton ; 

Unless it be that all the laggards go 

Into a service which rewards the slow. 

105 



ALMETTA. 

And I'd like to say, if it 's in season, 
Of all the bores the public rely on, 

The messenger service without reason 

Is one of the greatest ; worse than Hy on 

Or " in " the ointment ; and if 't aint treason, 
I'll include ''Administration pie" on 

The party " pie counter," always so high 

It only serves to feed the tallest fly. 



But messengers at twenty cents an hour, 

When love is chilled by winter cold and bleak, 

Are not too dear; and save in them the pow'r 
Of corporation's shown, when for a week 

At two dollars they 're got, as they now are. 
One 'd hardly cause of criticism seek ; 

But when at figures such the boys are hired 

The charge for service makes a lover tired. 

106 



ALMETTA. 

A corporation is one of those things 

Which has no soul, so Andrew Jackson said ; 
And those who feel its many biting stings, 

Which prick fair patience's flesh till it is red, 
Are prone to wish the saint would don his wings, 

And back to mortal earth would from the dead 
Return, and hurl an old-time philippic 
Against the wrongs which make us all heart sick. 

If he should come from home above divine, 

And try his hand at righting things below ; 

I would suggest he'd make the comp'ny sign 
Agreement to compel the boys to go 

At least one mile an hour or resign. 

Or on the business put his saintly blow. 

All corporations seem to have license 

To prey upon us since Andrew went hence. 

107 



ALMETTA. 

But if you wish to reach perfection 

In patience here, then try the telephone ; 

You needn't mind about the inflection, 

No matter whether high or low ; your tone 

However guided by circumspection, 

Can never penetrate the frigid zone 

Of the operator's blandness ; she'll vow 

Nine times in ev'ry ten, " They're talking now". 

And when not " talking now " you trembling hang 
To the receiver but no word receive, 

Hoping for an answer, bang-bang, bang-bang 

Goes the transmitter in your ear ; you grieve. 

As through your luckless brain the awful clang 

Resounds, but from which there is no reprieve. 

You ask, " Why is it that you treat me so?" 

And she responds, " H-e l-l-o, hel-lo, hello!" 

108 



ALMETTA. 

If there's a woman in this happy land, 

Who's monarch of what man surveys and more, 
It is the girl who always holds a hand 

Of trumps at the Exchange ; one may be sore 
And out of patience, but his earthly sand 

Will many, many times run out before 
She answers 'less she wants to ; she's of those 
Who have mankind both by the ear and nose. 



It 's not worth while to get out of humor, 

Or with impatience vig'rous protests blend ; 

She's got you by the ear ; you're consumer. 
In legal sense, and to you she'll attend 

When she gets ready ; she's not a Bloomer 

But knows when she's got you at her wire's end. 

It does no good to fret and fume and scoff, 

For she all protests meets with " Oh, ring off ! " 

109 



ALMETTA. 

And you " ring off" and " ring off" so will I, 
Almetta paid the bill, 'twas forty cents ; 

But 'twas not that which made her deeply sigh, 
Or caused her feelings to grow more intense 

With anguish ; but Mark's manner did imply 
To him she need not look for recompense 

For sin and shame ; his actions plainly said 

That of a felon's chains he had no dread. 



To-morrow came and went, the next day, too, 
Dragged slowly by, but the faithless lover 

Came not his promise to fulfill, and sue 

For her forgiveness ; and seek to cover 

With holy wedlock, which to her was due. 

His shame and hers ; put around, above her, 

That strong protection which a man may give 

And which, e'en such a stain, may oft outlive. 

no 



A L ME T TA . 

To-morrow ! A problem solved yet unsolved, 
Unsolvable ; transparent yet opaque ; 

An equasion, whose quantity evolved, 

Is yet unknown ; a phantom whose make 

Is now a substance, now a shade ; involved 
In mystery profound ; from it we take 

Pleasure and pain, sorrow, joy and gladness, 

Delight, distress, bliss and woe and sadness. 



To-morrow ! a volume within a word 

Encompassed — hope, fear, life, death — to-morrow ; 
For thy duties many their loins must gird 

And enter thy paths bowed down with sorrow ; 
But unto many thou 'rt arrayed like bird 

Of Paradisal plumage ; they borrow 
Thy pleasures in bright anticipation 
And greet thy coming with rich ovation. 

HI 



ALMETTA, 

To-morrow ! In thy dawn a perfect day 

To youth appears, in whose roseate tints 

The call to pleasure 's seen, which to obey 
Is greater pleasure ; no deep foot-prints 

Of pain can be distinguished in the clay 

Of which they 're made ; no poignant sorrow stints 

Their joy ; to them the morrow is serene 

With no angry cloud the sun and them between. 



To-morrow ! The fruition of the Past 

To early womanhood and manhood ; fixed 

By God's decrees eternal to outlast 

The ages ; with pleasure and duty mixed 

'Twill surely come ; then stand not thou aghast, 
Nor shun its proper burdens, for betwixt 

Pleasure and pain, sorrow and joy, thy fate, 

'Tis so decreed, shall be to alternate. 

112 



ALMETTA. 

To-morrow ! Thou art to parents time 

When all the joys, which in the infant lies 

Concealed, will fructify in life sublime 

And give the heart what it does highly prize ; 

Making old age a bright and sunny clime 

To them; calmly they look through youth's diguise 

And see developed in the future far 

The joys which sense of sorrow '11 never mar. 



To-morrow ! To the old, infirm and weak 
Thou art a day of rest, a wondrous balm 

For all the ills of life and time ; they seek 
Thy face in joy, for in thee is the calm 

Of an eternal peace, in which the bleak 

And wintry winds chill not ; concluding psalm 

Of life thou art, and patiently they wait 

For God in love to open wide the gate. 

113 



ALMETTA. 

The morrow came and went, but Almetta 

No word received ; she saw she must demand 

Justice from the court ; Mark's silence whet her 
Resentment to an edge that finest brand 

Made at Sheffield would not bear ; it set her 
Purpose deeper in her soul, and with hand 

Upraised in court she affidavit made 

And on our Mark the hand of law was laid. 



Mark's due arrest a great sensation made, 
The greatest known in his native city. 

For many years ; without respect to grade 
The people agreed it was a pity 

That such a lovely girl should be betrayed 
And cruelly deserted ; 'twas fit he 

Should suffer for his crime ; no social state, 

They said, should screen him from his well earned fate. 

114 



ALMETTA. 

If anything is certain to call out 

A crowd, it is a scandal ; 'twill surpass, 

As an excitant, agonizing shout 

Of fire in a country town, where, alas ! 

No fire apparatus is near about 

And where, indeed, the water's always scarce ; 

It is a morsel which all gossips find 

Dished up in court to suit the vulgar mind. 



The case was called for trial ; most intense 

Was the prevailing int'rest, which was shown 

By presence of the old and young ; suspense 
Was well defined for the scandal had erown 

To vast proportions ; as yet Mark's defense. 
If he had any, was a secret known 

Only to his counsel, and they refused 

To talk, except to say Mark was abused. 

11 j 



ALMETTA. 

The legal battle did at once begin 

With motion the indictment to annul, 

Upon the ground that there was a flaw in 

Its construction, and from books they did cull 

Authorities in hopes the case to win 

Without a trial, and the judge to gull, 

By quoting here and there from crim'nal law 

And charging this and that to be a flaw. 



Almetta's counsel was prepared to meet 
All objections urged, and to show 

That Cooley, and others no less discreet 

Had on these very points said so and so. 

In words and figures which they did repeat 

In presence of the court ; and then did go 

Into discussions, which were so abstruse, 

To follow them would be of little use. 

116 



ALMETTA. 

Aye, worse than useless, for when a legal 

Contention 's on between men always flush 

With points of law, it becomes so regal 

That common folks had better to the brush 

Betake themselves ; like the sea-gull, 

Lawyers ott soar where they 're above the crush 

Of ordinary minds, into a waste 

Where diamonds sparkle though they be but paste. 



It was a battle royal, in a sense, 

Though badly mixed with terms of legal cant ; 
Which were thrown in as "earnings " by defense 

But which of argument were very scant ; 
The crowd, however, thought it was immense. 

Though to the judge it was but legal rant ; 
Turning to counsel, "The bill is sustained," 
He said. '' Let the prisoner be arraigned." 
y 117 



ALMETTA. 

Almetta sat beside her counsel ; on 

Her lap her infant lay and laughed and cooed ; 
Pla)ed with the sunbeams as they fell upon 

Its dress of snowy whiteness ; for its mood 
Was in sharp contrast with the woe-begone 

Expression of its father ; who did brood 
In sullen anger just across the room, 
But tried to hide the deepness of his gloom. 



The jury was composed of honest men, 

Husbands of loving wives, fathers of sons 

And of modest daughters ; 't was sworn and when, 
There 'd been exploited by opposing guns 

On either side some further legal ken, 

In quantities which would weigh many tons. 

Had such stuff weight, the judge said he 'd proceed 

To try the cause, and hoped there 'd be more speed. 

118 



ALMETTA. 

Mark was arraigned, and to the charge he plead 

" Not guilty "; but for once the blood of shame 

Coursed madly through his veins, and blush o'erspread 
His guilty features ; when Almetta's name 

Was called, she modestly rose and was led 

To the witness chair, where, with trembling frame 

And voice, she told the story of her life 

And of Mark's pledge to make of her a wife. 



Told how he 'd come into her humble home, 

Ere yet she 'd seen her eighteenth summer dawn, 

With honeyed words and vowed he 'd never roam 
From her away ; how on the moon-lit lawn 

His ring he gave her ; how on ev'ry tome 

Of sacred Scriptures he had freely drawn. 

To prove that Love was of the heav'nly throng 

Of virtues, and when true could do no wrong. 

119 



A L ME TTA. 

" I have known him for many years ", she said, 
'" x^nd put rehance on his spoken word ; 

And when he made the promise me to wed, 
And did with golden band my finger gird, 

I did beheve I'd be to altar led ; 

I put away all doubts as too absurd 

For woman's bosom ; I could not believe 

He'd sought me out with intent to deceive. 



" And when 1 found that in an evil hour 
I all had lost that's to a woman dear, 

I turned to him and thought his manly povv'r 

Would be invoked to save me from the drear, 

Cold eye of scorn, protect me from the show'r 
Of darts which now upon me fall ; be near 

To throw around me his protecting arm 

Which throughout life would shield me from all harm. 

120 



A L ME T TA - 

•" To him I did appeal, not once but more, 
Entreated him to come to my rescue ; 

To think how great the load of pain I bore, 
To think how much of it to him was due ; 

Upon my bended knee I did implore 

That he would unto me and my babe do 

An act of manly justice ; be to me 

A husband, father to his progeny. 



" This child is his ; here I make solemn oath 
It was by him begotten ; I do swear 

In presence of this court (though I was loth 
This action to begin) that I did bear 

This child unto him ; that in its veins doth 

Flow the blood of the defendant ; declare 

The charge I make against him not in rage, 

But only that he bear its parentage." 

121 



ALMETTA. 

Mark's defense was merely a denial 

Of all which she in testifying said ; 

He tried to show that it was a vial 

Of wrath that she was breaking on his head 

And swore in the heat of bitter trial 

That he had never promised her to wed ; 

Nor did he ever give with golden band 

Solemn pledge to bestow on her his hand. 



His manner on the stand was that of one, 
Who felt that he did greatly condescend 

To testify ; that the prosecution 

Was based on malice, and he did defend 

From sense of duty only ; 't was begun 
Money to extort and his fame to rend 

In pieces ; and he was so innocent 

It grieved him to be charged with such intent. 

122 



ALMETTA. 

A sneer was on his face when he referred 

To the plaintiff; his association 
With her, he said, by merest chance occurred ; 

And when he learned of the fascination, 
Under which she labored, he was deterred 

From further visits ; hoped separation 
Might prove a cure ; might e'en obliterate 
A love which he could not reciprocate. 

He had not, he said, a promise given 

Which even she could well construe to mean 
That his heart by Cupid's shock was riven, 

Or in Almetta he had ever seen 
Ideal of a wife ; were he driven 

To make a choice the jail and her between. 
He'd choose the former ; he would not be won 
To marriage by a wrong he had not done. 

123 



ALMETTA. 

But when Almetta's counsel did him take 

Along the paths which he had swiftly gone 

In his evidence in chief, he did break, 

And halt and hesitate and look forlorn, 

And contradict himself till in his make 

No sneer was left, like that which sat upon 

His face when he began ; but in its stead 

Confusion's blush appeared like crimson red. 



The jury was instructed in the law 

And passed out slowly to a distant room ; 

Where they in quiet might consult and draw 
Conclusion just as to defendant's doom; 

Or let him go acquit, if fit they saw. 

And, clearing him, erect Almetta's tomb 

Of infamy ; the foreman silence broke, 

When they had reached the room, and thus he spoke 

124 



ALMETTA. 

" If I were legislator, which I 'm not, 

I 'd pass a law which would such cases meet ; 
I 'd put the man in prison till he 'd rot 

And to his victim I would have escheat 
His whole estate and all his father 's got ; 

Unless he 'd marry and agree to treat 
Her as his wife, her child as his, and give 
Bond this to do as long as he should live. 



" Nay, I would follow him beyond the shore 
Of time, and if he died before she went 

To her account (which I would not deplore), 
I 'd give her everything he had not spent 

And put a mortgage on his future store 
Of life eternal ; him I 'd make repent 

Of his unholy sin, alive and dead, 

And all his kind I 'd fill with mortal dread. 

125 



ALMETTA. 

"That would be my verdict ; do as you please, 
I '11 not hold out against eleven men ; 

But I would like right well his neck to squeeze 

Just once; I 'd draw my grip so tight that when 

I let him go he 'd not be fit to grease 

A cross-cut saw ; I would not send such men 

To prison ; and thus I would save the state 

Expense of feeding them at any rate." 

These honest views, somewhat extreme, lio doubt, 
t Were held by others, but they thought it best 
To avoid extremes and give him about 

Two years in prison. " They '11 shave off his crest 
Of hair," they said, ''and beard, and he '11 come out 

A better man ; perhaps locate out West 
And there unknown grow up and cultivate 
The virtues which he here does underrate." 

126 



A L ME T TA . 

A silence, solemn, deep, fell on the scene 
As the jurors did the court-room enter ; 

Mark, though ill at ease, tried to look serene 
For he knew on him all eyes did center ; 

Almetta, pale and wan, did try to screen 

Her face with fan from brazen gaze ; bent her 

Eyes upon her babe's sweet face ; her heart beats 

Could be plainly heard at the jurors' seats. 



" Have you, gentlemen, on a verdict yet 

Agreed "? the judge did ask of him who'd been 

Chosen foreman. " We have ; you'll find it set 
Out in words and figures fully herein 

This paper ", he said ; and the clerk did get 
It from his hand ; to read it did begin ; 

" We find defendant guilty, and him we give 

Two years in prison, should he so long live." 

127 



ALMETTA. 

A silence deeper on the court-room fell 

But only for a moment ; Almetta 
Was by friends at once surrounded ; a yell 

Of wild approval rent the air ; met her 
Ears from every quarter ; it was the knell 

Of all Mark's worldly hopes ; 'twas like fetter 
Galling to his heart and pride ; it was more 
Than he had thought for him could be in store. 



" Order !" the sheriff demanded ; '' Order !" 

" At once be seated ", sternly cried the judge ; 

But the crowd, which stood on riot's border, 

Seemed not to hear as each the other'd nudge 

And, pointing to Mark who had outlawed her, 

Cried ; " Put on the shackles, don't let him budge !" 

While others said it was a shame that when 

His guilt was clear they didn't give him ten. 

128 



ALMETTA. 

'' Stand up, the sentence of the court receive ", 

The judge commanded ; "If you 've aught to say 

Why sentence should not be pronounced, relieve 
Your mind by saying it ; the court will pay 

Attention to your words ; you, I believe, 

Have had a trial fair." No answer ; " Nay, 

Then with thy sentence I will proceed 

And bid you to my words give lasting heed. 



" In passing sentence I will not refrain 

From speaking truly of your dastard act ; 
And while I hope I'll never be again 

Called to preside in such a case, the fact 
Should be impressed on those who willful stain 

Put on a woman's honor, that exact 
And even-handed justice does not know 

Any distinction between high and low. 

129 



ALMETTA. 

'' Vantage of social sphere you have possessed, 
Likewise all that wealth and high position 

Could give ; you have been petted and caressed 
In social halls ; yet, to her condition 

You did betake yourself; for her professed 

The highest, truest love ; but your mission, 

Disguised as love, was one of infamy 

Designed to rob her of her purity. 



^' Yours is a sin that has been long contemned 
By civil and by God's eternal laws ; 

It was in David righteously condemned, 
When Uriah he sent into the jaws 

Of certain death ; its evil has dismemb'd 

More homes within our land than all the Haws 

Of human character besides ; its stain 

Clings to its victim like the curse of Cain. 

130 



ALMETTA. 

" Thine is a crime against society, 

Not one, but all, because it brings thy shame 
Upon the innocent ; no piety 

In mother or in child can cleanse the name 
Of her whgi bears it now ; satiety 

Is a thing unknown to those who blame 
A woman, and thy sin will follow her 
Through life, and put a stain upon her bier. 



"You have the highest moral law defied. 

And so it's been adjudged by these, thy peers, 

(The term through legal flaw is misapplied) 

That you at work shall serve the state two years ; 

In prison I adjudge thee to abide ; 
It is a painful duty, but my tears 

Are shed for her whom you have thus deceived. 

The tender heart you have so deeply grieved. 

131 



ALMETTA. 

" Sheriff, take the prisoner now to jail 

And speedily prepare him to transfer 

To prison ; no longer can he on bail 

Remain ; but on thy bond, I charge thee, sir, 

To keep him safe ; be vigilant, nor fail * 

Aught in thy duty ; it you should incur 

Extra expense for guard or bailiff, I 

Will make the order such things to supply." 



Subdued applause the timely sentence met, 

As Mark was hurried from the room to jail ; 

An ashen hue o'erspread his face, as yet 

The first emotion he had shown ; for bail 

His counsel then applied but could not get 
Approval of the court ; 'twould not avail. 

The judge declared, for when the sentence 's passed 

It is of legal steps the very last. 

132 



ALMETTA. 

Without delay he was at once transferred 
To prison, and within its gloomy walls 

Put at hard labor ; to which he demurred 

At first, but when informed that duty's calls 

Must be obeyed, he wisely ceased to beard 

The " Cat " within her den, whose cry appals 

The stoutest heart ; but did as was advised, 

Though in his cell he thus soliloquized. 



" Oh, fool I was ! when ev'ry path in life 
Was leading me to highest honors on ; 

When Joy knew not the deadly throes of strife 

And Guilt's dark shade sat not my soul upon ; 

To drive with ruthless hand this keen-edged knife 
Into my bosom, and for one ill born 

Blast every manly hope, and covered see 

My name with everlasting infamy. 
9 133 



ALMETTA. 

" Oh, fool! for a moment's sinful pleasure 

Thus to exchange thy hope of heav'n and earth ; 

To fill the future with Horror's measure 

And feel in present moment pangs of birth 

Of Sin, Remorse and Shame ; lost 's the treasure 
Which might have been a thing of noble worth, 

Had I obeyed the impulse with whose start 

I felt a better purpose in my heart. 



"The Cat ! and has it come to this, that I 

At least suggestion of thy name do quail ? 

When I, a boy, despised thy claw and cry, 
In manhood now I tremble at thy tail ? 

As if, and yet I know no reason why, 

I felt thy claws my bared back to assail. 

Alas ! it is too true, th)- very name 

A tremor sends throughout my guilty fi-ame. 

lo4 



ALMETTA. 

•*' Well I remember, how with rock and club, 

I drove thee from the shed where nightly sat 

Thee and thy mate, when thou didst teach thy cub, 
With unearthly wauls and many a spat, 

Thy horrid notes ; and how thy young in tub 
I drowned while yet a kitten, that a cat 

It might not grow to be ; but naught avails 

Against nine lives, nor here against nine tails. 



" And when thy form I rudely did dissect, 
Ere trusted with human corpse, I found 

Thy lungs ^vere perfect and might well eject 

The varied notes discordant which they sound ; 

And all thy muscles such thou might'st elect 
Always to fall with feet upon the ground ; 

But when I sought thy lungs that never fail, 

I little dreamed of power in thy tail. 

135 



A L ME T TA , 

The Cat ! I 've heard it said thou hast nine Hves, 
I never doubted that thou hast nine wails ; 

For, hushing eight, I 've found that one survives 
And that the ninth rarely, if ever, fails ; 

But till, like me immured, one seldom dives 
Into the hidden myst'ries of thy tails ; 

And, yet, it is not strange that life feline 

Should still exist in deadly ' Cat-o'-Nine.' " 



And there we leave him, in the prison dark. 
At work by day, at night in lonely cell , 

Restless, chafing, no longer like the Mark . 

He was on lawn or 'neath the glowing spell 

Of Almetta's worth, which, when in the park 
They met, and in her presence on him fell. 

He chose the baser path and him it led 

Where fires of remorse by remorse are fed. 

136 



ALMETTA. 

With falt'ring steps Almetta left the room, 
And sought her home in agony of grief; 

She 'd followed her betrayer to the doom 

Which was his proper meed ; but on the leaf, 

On which was written his, she saw the tomb 
Of all her hopes outlined ; it was in brief 

Death warrant to her infant's life and hers 

And doomed them both to mis'ry and to tears. 



Almetta gazed with loving tenderness 

Upon her babe which was sweetly sleeping 

In perfect peace and beauty ; and did press 

Her lips upon its cheek ; as though leaping 

Into stronger life with her soft caress, 

A tiny hand was raised and went creeping 

O'er her cheek, as though it would fain essay 

To brush, in love, her scalding tears away. 

137 



A L ME T TA . 

And as a tear fell on the infant cheek, 

In sweet response its loving, tender eyes 

Were opened wide ; as though its heart did seek 
An explanation of the bitter cries 

Which from maternal heart, now lone and weak, 
Did flow ; and in them were reflected dyes 

With which the vault above could not compare 

So deep the azure blue was of the pair. 



But only for a moment did they ope 

Upon the mother, then again in sleep 

They gently closed, as if they could not cope 

With drowsiness, which o'er the lids did creep ; 

But that one glance was like the light that broke 
Upon the land and o'er the face of deep, 

When from the darkness of the first great Night 

A Voice was heard to say, " Let there be light ". 

138 



ALAfETTA. 

For it the mother's heart did penetrate 

And fill her soul with momentary peace ; 

Did banish from her thoughts her direful fate, 
And from her bitter woe give brief release ; 

But only for a moment, tor the gate 

To Sorrow ere long opened, and increase 

Of sorrow irave ; she felt herself within 

That she, she loved, would live to curse her sin. 



The babe's bright eyes were closed in peaceful sleep ; 

Almetta o'er it bent and put a kiss 
Upon its lips ; a smile did sweetly creep 

Over its infant face, as though 't were bliss 
To feel that in a mother's heart a deep, 

Abiding love existed, and in this 
'T would find protection till its tender feet 
Could bear the rougher paths of life to meet. 

i;i9 



ALMETTA. 

The infant slept the sleep of umocence ; 

Saw not the cloud which o'er its young life hung ; 
Knew not that anguish was the recompense 

Of sin, which from its mother's heart was wrung ; 
Dreamed not that on its being the offense 

'Gainst social laws, which to its mother clung, 
Would descend to it, make its tender life 
A thing despised, and with its peace mix strife. 



The babe slept on, its bosom rose and fell 

Like gentle undulations of rays of light ; 

Which from the East announce the dawn ; foretell 
The sun's approach, the waning of the night; 

Or like the ocean, when in calm, its swell 

Yet lifts the head of crested wave to hight, 

Which shows the power that within it lies 

And presence of majestic force implies. 

140 



ALMETTA, 

It slept and dreamed, perchance of some sweet clime 
Whose winding paths no sinful feet indent ; 

Whose joys are far above the things of time 

And, yet, to infant sleep are sometimes lent, 

That we may from their smiles secure sublime 
And holy inspiration ; that intent 

In us may be as high, as pure, as good 

And innocent as sleep of babyhood. 



Almetta wept ; her pent-up feelings burst 
Into a flood of tears ; her emotion 

Was like the rush of torrent when the thirst 
Of earth is quenched, and unto the ocean 

The swollen rivers go ; and no man durst 

Attempt to stay their waters ; her portion 

In life was one of deep, consuming dread 

From which no avenue of hope e'er led. 

14] 



J L ME T TA . 

" Oh. child of Sin !" in sadness she exclaimed, 

" How sweet thy smile in contrast with the frown 

Which does my life oppress ; sure God has aimed 
To curse me with my sin, to bow me down, 

And on my head the vials unrestrained 

Of his just wrath to pour ; in the renown 

Ot shame and guilt and fear and misery, 

I ieel the sting of his just penalty. 



" Oh, child of Sin ! could I but bear the cross. 

Which in this life will ever weigh thee down, 

All good would not appear to me as dross, 

Nor would I tremble at the worldly frown 

Which is upon me turned ; for ev'ry loss 

Would find some compensation in the crown 

Of happiness which thou wouldst wear ; I'd be 

Content to be despised, were 't not for thee. 

]42 



ALMETTA. 

" Yes, to be despised, I would be content. 

Could from thy life I lilt the dismal shade 

Which unto it my grievous sin has lent 

And which will all thy future lite pervade ; 

But when, in after years, thine eyes are bent 
Upon a mother, whom this sorrow 's made 

Decrepit ere her time, oh ! do not find 

Cause of reproach because her love was blind. 



"Turn not upon me as the world has turned, 
Nor think thy mother could be wholly bad, 

Because in evil hour her poor heart burned 

With love, desio-ned b\' God to make life g-lad. 

But which the meed of sin and shame has earned 
From passion ; to her sorrow do not add 

That bitter cup from which a mother 'd drink 

If from her touch the child she bore should shrink. 

143 



ALMETTA. 

'' Thy purity, I own, is sad reproach 
Unto my sin, for I in thee behold 

That innocence which, ere sin did encroach 
Upon me, and the monster did enfold 

Me in his coils, was mine ; he did approach 
And win me as the Serpent did of old 

Our common mother ; for my Eden gave 

The curse which follows e'en beyond the grave ". 



It dreamed, and o'er its features gently passed 
A smile of beauty which was infinite 

In sweetness ; as though the angels had massed 
Their power eternal to throw on it 

A ray from throne above ; which should outlast 
The gloom that on Almetta's life did sit 

Like pall of death, and thus to her might give 

The inspiration yet to bear and live. 

144 




'^ 2 

O P 

O a 



ALMETTA. 

Again Almetta kissed her babe ; gazed long 
Upon its placid features ; thought of all 

She had endured, of the grievous wrong 

Which had been done her ; of the social pall 

Which rested on her lile ; of him whose song 

Of love betrayed her, who had caused her fall 

And with her heart full near to bursting, there 

She knelt beside her babe to God in prayer. 



" Oh, God ! " she said, " behold a mortal frail, 
Scorn not the very humblest of thy dust ; 

List to thy creature, hear her saddest wail. 
Add not thine anger to the deadly thrust 

Of conscious guilt, which doth the soul assail 

And which doth chill the heart like wintry gust. 

Thou know'st how deep I rue the fatal hour 

I fell beneath the tempter's lustful pow'r. 

147 



ALMETTA. 

" Oh, God ! have mercy on thy weakest child, 

Cleanse thou her inmost heart from sinful guilt ; 

Give her th)' gracious peace ; remove the wild 
And fearful frenzy which would to the hilt 

Sink in her heart the dagger, and defiled 
Usher her soul into thy presence ; wilt 

Thou not, oh, God ! thy creature thus relieve. 

And give her aching heart thy sweet reprieve ? 



'" Father of mercies, look thou on me ; 

Hide not thy face in anger from my soul ; 
Turn but one friendly glance that I may see 

In peace thy smiling face ; hide not the goal 
Of heav'nly love.; help me, my God, to be 

Once more thy creature ; I drink deep the bowl 
Of bitter misery ; take from my path 
The soul-destroying shadow of thy wrath. 

14S 



ALMETTA. 

'" Renew again, oh, God ! thy gentle love 
Within my soul ; make me again to feel 

Those tender bands which, stretching from above, 
Unite thee with thy creatures ; place the seal 

Of thy forgiveness on me ; gently prove 

Thy Word of Truth, that when thy creatures kneel, 

Thou 'It have compassion on their lowly need 

Nor bruise the heart, nor break the tender reed. 



*' Father of mercies, hear my humble prayer ; 

Heal thou the heart that 's broken by this blow ; 
Ouench not the emotions that lino-er there, 

But purify them in their genial flow 
To this, my babe ; oh ! may it not despair 

To reach that perfect statue here below 
Of womanhood ; God guide her tender feet 
In paths than were her mother's more discreet. 

149 



ALMETTA. 

'' Rest not on her, oh, God ! a mother's sin ; 

Deal gently with her young and tender life ; 
If suffering must needs atone, mine's been 

Enough for both ; if not, sink deep the knife 
Into my soul ; no edge can be so keen 

But that its thrust would be with pleasure rife, 
If for my sin 'twould make the just amend, 
And from its consequence my babe defend. 



" For it I pray, not for myself alone ; 

Thou knowest that I find here no delight ; 
And. save for this, bone of my bone. 

And flesh of mine, this innocence so bright, 
I would the world, heav'n, and myself disown. 

And plunge me now into abyss of night. 
Oh ! heav'enly Father, stop thy erring child. 
Drive from her mind these frenzied thoughts so wild. 

150 



ALMETTA. 

" Have mercy on my babe ; shed on 't thy smile ; 

Comfort her life through all succeeding years ; 
Help me to rear her in thy nurture while 

Lonely I walk beneath this weight of tears ; 
Eradicate from heart and life all guile ; 

Fill her, oh, God ! with tender, loving fears 
To wound thy love, or now unto thee take 
My child, and let the heart, that's bursting, break. 



" Oh ! God of heaven and of earth, come thou 
In tender mercy to these stricken hearts ; 

Be thou their life ; record, oh, God ! my vow, 
Which from a better, higher impulse starts ; 

Resigned and humble my bared back I'll bow 
And uncomplaining bear the social smarts. 

If thou'lt but help me rear this babe of mine 

In humbleness to worship at thy shrine. 
10 ■ 151 



ALMETTA. 

" For me there's little left but darkest days, 

Strife and contention in my soul ; and woe 

Unto my life ; lest happily the rays, 

Shed from my babe's sweet life, may playful go 

Along my weary path to lift my gaze 

From inner self, and place it on the bow 

Of thy sweet promise ; grant, oh, Lord ! it may, 

Though now a shadow, prove angelic ray. 



" I do not ask thy righteous vengeance, no. 
To rest upon the author of my pain ; 

Mine was a foolish love, and just 's the blow 
To my poor heart, for it was silly, vain, 

To trust in him, be dazzled by his show 

Of truth and virtue ; Father, let the stain 

Rest on me if thou wilt, but let thy worth 

Be with the child to whom I've given birth. 

ir,2 



ALMETTA. 

" Father of mercy, grant this one desire : 

Be with my babe whatever comes to me ; 

Within her soul divinest love inspire 

And place her feet in paths of purity ; 

Shield thou her heart from baseness of her sire, 
And make her life what ev'ry life should be, 

A sweet reflection of thy holy One, 

In thee I trust, oh, Lord ! thy will be done ". 



Drop now the curtain, for the tale is told, 
I would to God it had been otherwise ; 

For great's the pain to see in manhood's mold 
The likeness of our kind, and yet despise 

The very ground he treads on ; one who's sold 
Himself unto the devil ; in whom lies 

The will and pow'r to use deceitful wile 

The purest of God's creatures to defile. 

153 



ALMETTA. 

For such an one the pure will always feel 

Supreme contempt, though yet there may be some, 
So lost to highest sense of woman's weal, 

To the destroyer they would rather come 
With words of cheer than to his victim ; kneel 

For him instead of her ; bewail the slum 
In which he dragged, forgetting all the while 
She was enticed from virtue by his smile. 



And here a just distinction should be drawn 

Between the one who comes within the pow'r 

Of man's designing passion, ere yet the dawn 
Of womanhood has broke, and in an hour 

Unguarded falls ; and her whom now to warn 
Is folly ; who scorns fair virtue's dower, 

And makes a thing for jest of all that's good. 

And glories in her fallen womanhood. 

i:)4 



ALMRTTA, 

To save the Almettas, one need not take 
Herself to precincts ot revolting slums ; 

For they, to virtue's worth again awake, 

Would hail with joy the light that comes 

With woman's sympathy, which for their sake 

Had been invoked ; theirs is the sin that numbs 

The heart, but not aroused is moral sense 

When blighting scorn 's their only recompense. 



155 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



016 165 599 5 



